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Blonde Hair Care… The Struggle is Real

Ok, I need to vent. I just left the hair salon after 4 HOURS getting my blonde hair fixed from the 3 hours I spent there last week! I wish I was exaggerating.

When I left the salon last week- hair was a little too blonde.
When I left the salon last week- a little too blonde.

 

Heres the situation with my hair. I have A LOT and it grows FAST. My entire life I would go to get my haircut and every new hairdresser would remind me… as if I didn’t know. Trust me. I know.

The Back Story

I’ve always been blonde (level 6, if you speak hair). That is considered a dark blonde. I’ve gotten highlights since I was 16. I went to my mom’s colorist until I moved away for college. I had to find a new stylist and it wasn’t easy. I constantly had the pleasure of them reminding me how much hair I have and that they need to charge me extra for all of the product/ foils/ B.S. because of it. I made it a rule that when someone made me feel bad about how thick my hair was I would never return. So as you can imagine, I went through many stylists in college. I also discovered that if you don’t get the color ON my scalp I look like I have roots the instant I leave the salon because my hair is so straight. Apparently, this is something that almost every hairstylist struggles with, or maybe its just on me. I would have to go back and get them touched up within a week if it wasn’t close enough. So yay. It would take me 2x as long to get my thick hair colored. I began to hate getting my hair done. I would either have to micromanage the stylist to get on my roots and make the highlights super fine or I would leave with chunky grown out highlights and be upset and have to go back and feel awkward.

When I moved back to San Diego after college, I had to find a new salon again. I went to a very well known salon in Encinitas for about a year and it got to the point where I couldn’t brush my hair it was so damaged. I didn’t love my hair stylist (all she talked about was CrossFit and family drama) but I did like the color she gave me and the fact that she has thick hair too so I feel like we had a special bond. So I stayed until I couldn’t stand it anymore.

This color is how I like my hair

 

I was getting takeout from my favorite restaurant one day and noticed a new salon opened up next door. I walked in and made an appointment with someone new. If you are a blonde you know how scary this is. It ended up being amazing. I met Susi and she rehabbed my hair and gave me close, fine highlights and lowlights. She would occasionally get chunky or not close enough and I’d have to get it fixed but I trusted her and she always made it right. I told her I want to try balayage one day and she told me no. Then I told her I wanted to go whiter blonde and she told me no. LOL. After 9 years I decided it was time to look elsewhere. My hair was healthy and I wanted something new.

So I was getting a facial at a salon near Steve’s work (an hour away from our house) and decided on a whim to get my hair colored. It was the MOST AMAZING color I’ve ever had. Super ashy, baby lights, and I learned about purple shampoo! I absolutely loved my new stylist. Then I went to pay and it cost me $225! I almost fainted. Susi was $90 plus tip. I loved my new stylist so much I went back a few more times. The last time I was there the owner of the salon was kind of vibing me out. I asked my stylist if she noticed and she told me that the owner asked if she planned to spend 3+ hours on me again and that she told her “yes, and that I should get what I pay for” (I freaking love her). That left such a bad taste in my mouth about the salon. I was really conflicted because I found someone that really knows and loves coloring hair, but I don’t want to support a salon like that. Plus the drive was ridiculous.

I started to look for salons closer to my house.I ended up going back to the very first salon I tried after college. They are literally HUGE and have an amazing reputation. Oh, and it is (only) $130 (haha).

Sooo… My Hair Was a Little Too Blonde…

The new stylist made me a little too blonde (which means going back in 4 weeks instead of 6, but it was ok. What really got me was that I ended up paying $190 + tip because they charged me for an add on I didn’t know about.  I also noticed some areas around my face already had roots when I left. This was right before the holiday weekend so I waited until this week to make an appointment to fix it.

Holy shit do I regret it. She added MORE highlights to my hair so I was literally platinum blonde in some areas (which looks horrible with my skin tone and dark brows IMO), but the baby hairs were still dark. So she put bleach on them and they turned a lovely shade of orange. I noticed the orange when I took a selfie for my Instagram story. I asked her what she thought and she dried the front and decided that yes it needs more bleach. So she bleached them again. Still orange. Then she dries my hair so we can see what we are working with. My hair is PLATINUM and orange. At this point, I was sitting there for 2.5 hours. The owner came over and said to add lowlights and bleach the front hairs again but do it as a highlight instead of brushing it on.

 

Getting my hair fixed today- notice the orange around my hairline...
Getting my hair fixed today- notice the orange around my hairline…

 

So here I am. I have orange-yellow baby hairs in the front, and now the front of my head (around my face) is darker than the back. WTF.

After the first dry. Hair is now platinum and orange... Can you tell I'm THRILLED?
After the first dry. Platinum and orange… Can you tell I’m THRILLED?

After an unsuccessful bleaching, my roots are now orange, yellow, and blonde

I mean… You can see my roots! Mixed with orange, yellow and bleach.

Nice chunk of yellow/ orange on my hairline.

Another angle.

How about where they missed a part so I have darker hair on my forehead than it gets lighter?

I’m dying here.

 

I’m at a complete loss for what to do. I can’t be the only blonde that struggles with finding the perfect stylist and salon, right? Any tips? Or referrals that aren’t $200 in North County San Diego??

 

XOX-

Love Lauren

 

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14 Comments

    1. I know its sooo bad, right??! They refunded me everything but the tip. So that definitely helps! Thank you for your support! Haha at this point all I can do is laugh. <3

  1. Alissa Kautman, who owns The Parlor in North Pacific Beach is amazing with blonde hair, and prices are reasonable too. She specializes in color, and being at the beach, she has plenty of blonde experience. I’ve had my own struggles with my blonde hair. Good luck! https://www.parlorsd.com/

  2. Tell your stylist at your salon to use CBC from Dennis Bernard Powertools. It will eliminate the brassy tones. If you want to begin to repair your hair, try the 4Bond and Plex Shampoo and Conditioner. Ask your salons if they carry this. It is not a daily shampoo and conditioner. Use it once a month to repair the damage! Smells great too!

  3. I’ve been wanting to get highlights for the longest time, but I’m scared about it not blending well with my dark brown hair!

  4. Same problem here in Boston. I told the stylist immediately my hair was too
    Blonde and they added some low lights now all my baby hairs are a wierd share of brown and the rest is platinum. Ahhhhhhhh if only there was an easier way.

  5. Omg! I’m sorry. Something similar happened to me recently & I feel you!
    Fellow story of disappointment: I had grown out so much of my natural hair (a very hard to color to nail down because it’s that dark blonde-light brown color, not warm, not cool) & my curls were looking good. We’d added some highlights/balayage mostly halfway-toward the ends. It was looking great!
    But…when touching it up she brought highlights really close to my roots…which I didn’t want. Then, I let it grow out a little & decided that hey, I really feel ready to just go to my natural color. So…I told her what I wanted and brought pictures.
    The color she put on me looked really dark.
    Went back to “fix it” and it looked really dark & reddish (added gold).
    Went back to “fix it” & ended up with all bleached hair, orange patches & roots…wanted to cry, called in sick to work. Went back to fix it one more time. And now my hair is SO dry & damaged & way too warm/gold for me.
    I really want to cry. All I wanted was my natural neutral dark blonde which looks golden on me. It took years to get there…only to end up with super dry damaged hair in a completely unflattering shade. :/
    Currently using olaplex 3 & 8.